A New Guy and a New Hawaiian Music Blog

So much to say… I don’t know where to begin…

I have been lurking on Tiki Central for nearly six or seven years. I might have spoken out sooner, but I am so outspoken on every other forum in which I participate, admittedly it was nice to sit back and learn from all of you.

I am a musician who has dedicated his life to the study and practice of Hawaiian music - despite that I was born in Philadelphia and currently live in New Jersey. I play steel guitar, slack key guitar, and ‘ukulele, but my specialty is Hawaiian falsetto singing for which I won a contest in Honolulu and a recording contract with Hula Records. (Check out my tunes on Rhapsody, Spotify, eMusic, or iTunes. Artists who have been mentioned on this forum - such as Bill Kaiwa and Raiatea Helm - were the awarding judges.) I have made the journey to Hawai’i countless times by now where I suppose my love of their music and culture was so keenly felt that many in the entertainment community have since taken me under their wing. I have performed with many of the legends of Hawaiian music - including such old-timers as the still living members of the Hawaii Calls radio broadcasts…and even Pat Sylva of The Surfers. I feel privileged to be accepted into this circle of what I consider to be the finest musicians in the world.

I came by my love of this music and culture quite honestly. For over 40 years, my father led a band on the East Coast which performed music which ranged from the most traditional Hawaiian to the tiki and exotica so loved on this forum. (Some of you may have caught the family act live when we performed at either the Kona Kai on City Line Avenue in Philadelphia, PA or the famed Hawaiian Cottage of Cherry Hill, NJ.) From my earliest years I was hearing this music and began a record collecting frenzy that continues to this day. I have a collection that is called upon by hula instructors in Hawai’i when rare songs cannot be found locally - a collection that rivals even Harry B. Soria’s of Territorial Airwaves (who I also count among my friends and who is directly responsible for my recording contract). I have any number of things that neither Harry nor anyone else has because they were handed down to me personally by the artists and their families - true “one of a kinds.” And as I learned to play all of those instruments by mimicking the greats I heard on these recordings, I can also tell you - with a high rate of accuracy - all of the uncited players on those vintage recordings simply by their style or tone.

I only recently decided to start sharing bits and pieces of audio from my collection - along with a musician’s view of the artists and performances - in what was first a podcast and later a radio show. But the radio station went bankrupt, and the complex web of copyright issues do not allow podcasters to use this material - even if the podcaster doesn‘t profit from it. So I have made my life easier by reducing my efforts to a semi-regular blog entitled "Ho’olohe Hou" - the Hawaiian for “to listen again.” Having followed your discussions for many years, I know that I am soon bound to touch upon music and musicians in my blog that have continued to elude the members of Tiki Central or shed some light on a bit of trivia you might not have heard elsewhere. My hope is that you will “LIKE” the blog on Facebook and that some of the discoveries you make there will spark further discussion over here - where I intend to stay as long as you’ll have me - as well as give you a few new old choice items to search for in your on-going crate-diving adventures.

I would love to get to know you all better, and I can only do that if I throw my hat in the ring. You will find the blog at http://www.facebook.com/hoolohehou or by searching Facebook on “Ho’olohe Hou” (with or without the Hawaiian diacritical marks). You can also drop me a line at [email protected].

Here’s hoping this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Malama pono,

Bill Wynne

P.S. Kaiwaza, I want to party with you. But I suspect we already know each other through our mutual steel guitar-playing friends around Honolulu.

Unfortunately, the music you describe is not very popular with most of the people here...except for a few, like me. I am fanatic about hawaiian music, and am a huge fan of Raiatea Helm....having all her albums as well as anything hapa haole!

Me with my band (and aunty Geri)

Me and my band with Uncle Bill Tapia:

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2013-01-10 07:14 ]

This is a wonderful letter and introduction to your blog...I'll be following along..
Happy New Year!
TH

Thanks for sharing. I've liked the page & will enjoy seeing your updates. I collect Hawaiian records as well & have a small online hobby Hawaiian LP music station called "Hawaiian Hi Fi."
http://www.live365.com/stations/kaiwaza?play=2
You know, I don't actually KNOW steel players here. I play myself slightly, but don't have one now. even took a few lessons from Jerry Byrd, but I haven't been active in the "steel community", but it's absolutely my favorite instrument!

Paradise is a state of mind.

[ Edited by: Kaiwaza 2013-01-10 11:59 ]

Thanks for a welcome filled with "aloha!"

I hope I didn't overstate the "seriousness" of my blog or the topics there. I love mid-century Polynesian pop as much as anyone, and not only is my collection filled with it, in some ways I have a very personal connection with it. It is very much the kind of music my family band played for mainland audiences. My father used to do gigs in NYC with Sam Makia (whom you know from records by that name as well as Johnny Poi and His Surfboarders or Kamuela and His South Sea Islanders or Tiny and His Hawaiian Bubbles...) And his children and grandchildren are still my friends. Dad knew Johnny Pineapple and scores of the guys from that era. So I do not scoff at that music, and it will be featured on my blog. I am also an aficionado of the musicians from Hawaii who did other kinds of pop. I have met and chatted with members of The Surfers, The Society of Seven, and - almost daily, through Facebook - two of the remaining Aliis from Don Ho's famed group. And nearly 20 years ago now I worked with David Greenberg at Rykodisc on the first reissues of the Arthur Lyman albums on CD.

I didn't want to give the impression that the blog would be too high brow! :)

I love Auntie Geri and have her CDs. And Geri and I share in common that we both appeared on the Hawaii-based TV program "Pakele Live!" Please send her my aloha from the East Coast.

And as for Hawaiian Hi-Fi on Live365, I read about a year's worth of posts on this forum until I fell asleep last night, and I arrived at work today to crank up the station - which I have been listening to for 7 hours straight now. I am delighted - and ashamed - to admit that I discovered a group on this broadcast that I had never heard of before - and immediately jumped over to our friend's place, Haku's House of Jump and Rattle, and shelled out way too much money for it.

[ Edited by: Hwnmusiclives 2013-01-10 12:43 ]

Please keep on doing what you are doing! real hawaiian music needs adherents, and a voice....lest it die out completely!

Bill,

I look forward to reading your blog. I love a lot of Hawaiian music and play some Uke, though I don't know much about it. Keep posting!!!

Another fan of Hawaiian and hapa haole music here! Looking forward to checking our your blog and tunes!

Liked, BTW!

Here is our myplace from long ago...has some songs we did!

http://www.myspace.com/thesmokinmenehunes

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2013-01-11 11:04 ]

Great blog, Bill. So glad you stepped out of the shadows to share.

Great blog, Bill. So glad you stepped out of the shadows to share.

Welcome! I'm from Hawaii and I love Hawaiian music of all kinds. I play ukulele and guitar and grew up on Oahu in the 60's and 70's listening to traditional tunes. I listen to the internet radio station AM940. They play traditional Hawaiian and even have a show that plays rare 1940's recordings. Aloha